The We Are Family Foundation recently honored rock legend Jackson Browne at a gala event in New York City. The gala also raised funds for the non-profit organization, which supports and creates programs that bring people together through mutual respect, understanding and cultural diversity.

The event, hosted by actress Rosie Perez and comedian Mo Rocca at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom, included a concert which included Browne, Steven Van Zandt and WAFF founder/musician Nile Rodgers, with his band Chic.

“As great as it is to get this award. It's really great to be recognized by a fellow musician who I hold in such high esteem and who I probably wouldn't get to play with on any other occasion,” Browne told NY1.com.

Gibson Guitar Corp. donated four guitars for the event’s live auction, in support of WAFF’s global initiatives. Special events with celebrities were auctioned off, too – such as lunch with Rosie Perez, a weekend with the B-52s’ Kate Pierson and time with Little Steven and Deepak Chopra.

“We believe that we’re one global family and with our help and with our great team they work on that every single day to teach the world that message,” Rodgers said about WAFF, which he formed in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001. The organization was named for the hit song “We are Family,” co-written and co-produced by Rodgers for Sister Sledge in 1979. “Certainly it’s a song that was written with a lot of passion, but it really was a song that I never knew would have this kind of lifespan.”

Photo: We Are Family Foundation founder, Nile Rodgers, Steven Van Zandt and Jackson Browne performing at the 2010 We Are Family Foundation Celebration Gala in New York City on October 26, 2010. Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of We Are Family Foundation. Photo: Shahar Azran Photography